The Cluttered Pantry

The last time I can recall winning something I was 6 or 7 years old and my father answered the phone and was told “your son Bobby has won a baseball in the Baskind Robbins drawing” ummm, I’m a girl. You know, Bobbi with an “i”, but truth be told the baseball was a way better prize than the girly option might have been.

So, it turns out that every time a friend or family member joined FoodBuzz to help me promote The Cluttered Pantry my name was entered into the “Foodbuzz Tell a Friend Weekly Raffle”, and I won the random drawing! Which is why, when I got the email from the fine folks at FoodBuzz saying I’d won a Cuisinart Ice Cream maker, I got pretty excited.

Years ago we owned an old-fashioned ice cream maker (big bags of rock salt and tired arms at the end of the day all for a tiny vat of ice cream.) I think we sold it in a garage sale before moving to Chicago from Austin, TX . So it’s a double bonus to actually win something that we don’t already have three of in the back of a cupboard somewhere.

The girls are still pretty funny about ice cream…really cold food and drinks still makes them make that face that babies do the first time you give them ice. I think it truly startles their senses. But now, after a moment of face making their eyes get big and happy when creamy goodness is offered up.

We tossed the freezing container into our freezer right away and as soon as it was solid cold (the first time took close to ten hours) I set to testing our new toy. Of course, it worked like a charm. Dumped in the ingredients of our first batch of citrus sorbet and in 20 minutes it was ready to eat in a bowl, and after a few more hours back in the freezer it was full on scoop worthy. Yay!

This citrus sorbet recipe was just mostly a guess on my part, and I added some vanilla because I remember having a dish of sorbet that tasted a bit like the creamsicles that we used to eat as children and I know that it was the vanilla that made it seemed creamy and not actual cream.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons orange zest
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2-1/4 cups orange juice
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method:

Make a simple syrup with the sugar and water and let cool. Stir in zests and juices. Turn on Cuisinart then stand over it and marvel at how fast and quiet it is. We tossed the sorbet back into the freezer for a couple of hours before serving because we like it more firm. It went great with some of the candied lemon peel on top.

I think our next step is to get into really rich and creamy strawberry ice cream so we can break out the circa 1920′s Hamilton-Beach frappe makers and completely blow the girls’ minds, and pack on some more of those much needed calories.

The oldest one is a white enamel Hamilton model #10 from the early 1920′s soda fountain. You might think it’s just from my prop shelf for photo shoots but this is the real deal. It works great, and nothing stirs memories better than that smell of ionizing air and the whir of the metal mixer blades. The second frappé maker (don’t make the mistake of calling it a milk shake in our home, these babies were bought in New England and would take great offense at the regional slap) is a model 33, it is enameled in that fab jadeite green that I’d cover all my appliances in if I didn’t think they’d cart me away.

Now that I think of it, what in the world were we waiting for? A kitchen with two of the world’s best frappe makers and no way to make our own ice cream?! I’m glad it wasn’t a baseball this time, but it does sort of warp my brain to realize that the first prize was from an ice cream store and the second in my life is to make ice cream.

A hearty thanks to those of you that went to FoodBuzz to help me promote our blog, and helping us win the contest we didn’t even know we were in- frappes are on me! If you haven’t been to their site yet, and are interested in recipes/food/restaurant reviews take a look. It’s an amazing community of food blogger and foodies sharing the best they have made/found. (and I’m not just saying that because I won the Cuisinart!) Besides hoping that you’ll visit my profile page and “buzz” me, I’d love to recommend a few of my favorite featured publishers you’ll find on the site (i’ll add more soon, but I wanted to add these before publishing this post):

EatTravelWrite – is written by an Australian now living in Toronto, travel and food are a great combo and her photos and writing keep me coming back for more.

Southern Grace Gourmet – has found a way to make real southern cooking healthy.  Her photos are wonderful and so far every recipe I have tried has been a big hit here in Kahunaville.

Citronetvanille – Runs a personal chef service in the Bay Area and posts some of the most delicious looking photos and tasting recipes.

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